Keeping God’s commands involves both obeying them and not adding to them. For some of us obeying is easy; for those folks, the harder part might be not adding to them. One example of adding to them would be Christians who hold to traditions and man-made institutions like they were commands from God.
The final words of Israel’s lawgiver instruct us as we take possession of and live in God’s promises to us. Moses warned them to be careful, to be diligent, not to deviate, to learn, to remember, and to teach. Their keeping of God’s commands was certainly not intended to be a casual part of their lives.
One way Moses gave them for remembering and keeping God’s commands was to “tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.” (v 6:8-9) So the people did just that: they kept passages of Scriptures in boxes strapped to their arms and heads, and carved them into the doorposts of their homes. Doing so fulfilled the command, but missing God’s intention, the action was meaningless and valueless.
God wanted what they had seen and known about Him to be on their hearts all the days of their lives. He wanted them to embrace their covenant, their relationship, with Him with all their hearts. He wanted them to love Him. Love is a matter of the heart, not of checking off boxes. He wanted them to obey His commands as a way of remembering Him, but He wanted their obedience to spring from their love for Him. When we love someone we want to please him or her. If pleasing the one we love is a matter of duty or performing the bare minimum, that isn’t love, is it?
God intended for those commands to be observed on a deeper level than the surface, to impact them more deeply than going through the physical motions. The symbolic tying of God’s commands on one’s hands meant that those commands should direct their actions and guide their work. Symbolically binding them on their foreheads meant that He wanted those commands to guide their thinking, decisions and behavior. Writing them on the doorposts on their houses meant that they would be evident in the home, in family relationships and in their work. Writing them on their gates would remind them to be guided by them as they left home and went into society.
Remember that Jesus said He came not to abolish but to fulfill the Law, and He gave us New Testament people few direct commands. He said that since God is spirit, His worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth. He sacrificed much to come to earth and suffered to restore us to right relationship with Him. How do all of these fit together, and with the revelation of God’s heart displayed in His Old Covenant? It merits a God-seeker’s prayerful consideration.
These chapters give us the occasion to evaluate our own relationships with God. Please do so prayerfully today and the next couple of days as you read.